A Journey Through Star Wars Games
The "Star Wars" universe has been a hit since the first movie came out in 1977. It’s not just about movies anymore—there are many fantastic "Star Wars" video games that let fans experience the galaxy in fun and exciting ways. Let’s dive into some of the most popular "Star Wars" games and what makes them special.
Remaster? Remake? Re-release?
First, we need to figure out who the Classic Collection is intended for. On PC, you can easily find the original versions of both games on Steam for less than the cost of this new package. They come with fully functional multiplayer and a variety of great mods, including some that enhance the graphics. To be upfront, if you already own the originals on PC, it's best to skip the Classic Collection for now. The updates aren't significant enough to justify the extra cost.
Console players, however, have been more limited. On the Xbox, both titles are playable via backwards compatibility. On PlayStation and Switch, neither Battlefront nor Battlefront 2 can be played natively. That makes this Classic Collection the best option for experiencing these two fantastic games on modern hardware, but that’s also frustrating given how low-quality this port is. Maybe it’s because I spent hundreds of hours in these games as a kid, but they deserved much better than this low-effort attempt from Aspyr.
Available On: PC, Xbox Series S/X, Xbox One, PlayStation, Switch
Reviewed On: PS5
Developed by: Aspyr
Published by: Aspyr
Review code provided by the publisher.
Oddly, Aspyr hasn’t really advertised the graphical enhancements in the Classic Collection which is baffling to me considering how little else it has going for it. While it is not a massive leap up in visual quality, there are a few improvements that make the Classic Collection the best-looking version of both games. Unless you count some of the sick fan-made mods for the PC editions, of course, and you really should because sweet Jesus there are some talented people out there.
Modern Times: New Adventures
When Disney bought Lucasfilm, new "Star Wars" games began to appear. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (2019) and its sequel, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor (2023), gave players thrilling stories and challenging gameplay.
Battlefront
Ultimately, the value of the graphical boosts depends entirely on what you’re comparing to. If you’re a console gamer then the Classic Collection is a solid step up in visuals, especially in terms of the backgrounds which are no longer indistinguishable blurs. On PC however, it’s a minor increase that you’d be hard-pressed to notice at a glance.
The framerate has been boosted across the board too, so now everything plays in silky-smooth 60fps, unless you’re on PC where the sky is limited purely by your hardware. Given how little this package demands, even a potato disguised as a PC should be able to get some impressive numbers. Playing on the PlayStation 5, purely because the allure of getting some trophies on two beloved games was too much to resist, the framerate never stuttered or dipped. Of course, if the framerate had dropped on a console this powerful running games from the early 2000s it would be a gobsmacking failure. Still, credit where credit is due.
Another bonus is that XL mode is available across every version of the Battlefront Classic Collection, where once it was only accessible to the PC crowd. That means we all get to enjoy the insanity of 32 v 32 matches on certain maps like Hoth, because who doesn’t love 64 very confused people armed with laser guns and lightsabers running around the place?
Hero Assault, the mode which features two teams comprised entirely of heroes and villains, has also been added to every single map in the game, which is a nice bonus.
The Fun of Star Wars Games
The best part about "Star Wars" games is that they let players dive into a galaxy far, far away. Whether you’re battling with lightsabers, flying starships, or discovering new planets, these games offer a chance to live out your "Star Wars" dreams.
From early pixelated battles to today’s high-definition adventures, "Star Wars" games keep fans entertained and excited. So, grab your lightsaber and get ready for an amazing journey through the galaxy!
The Games themselves
As a sales pitch the original Battlefront kind of sounds like a stupid idea: let’s take one of the most iconic movie franchises of all time, a series renowned for space monks with laser swords and a badass villain, and make a game based on it. Great! That sounds fantastic. What should the game be about? Maybe you play as Darth Vader annihilating rebels? Or how about a Jedi who survived Order 66 and is now on the run? You could have Force powers and build lightsabers and….wait, what was that? You want to make a game about being one of the thousands of faceless soldiers waging war in the background while all the cool characters do awesome things off-screen? Are you sure?
It works, though. Every match, whether it’s against AI bots in single player or against other people online, drops you onto a battlefield where you pick from a few different classes of soldiers and then head out to gun down the opposition and capture strategic points. The first team to run out of reinforcement tickets losses. Simple stuff, yet massively entertaining.
In conclusion…
It’s difficult to review a package like this because I’m trying to judge two distinctive parts: the quality of the port/remaster, and the games themselves.
While they certainly are showing their age, there is no doubt in my mind that Battlefront and the even better Battlefront 2 are excellent games still worthy of being played in 2024. Experiencing them again brought back a lot of fond memories from my teenage years and a deep sense of disappointment that they never got the sequel they deserved. EA’s attempts to revive the franchise in 2015 ended up failing to capture the magic and didn’t improve very much on what came before.
The quality of this new package doesn’t do either game justice. Minimal improvements make it pointless for PC players who are better off sticking with the original releases. The only people who truly benefit are those on the Switch and PlayStation where the games aren’t accessible. At least the initial launch issues have been mostly resolved, although the multiplayer numbers will probably never recover. Another update should hopefully fix any remaining problems, but the online will be dead by that point.
Truthfully, that isn’t a problem for me because I’m quite happy to fire up both games in single-player, either through Instant Action matches or Galactic Conquest mode. You better consider whether you’ll be happy sticking with the offline elements of the games if you plan on buying the Classic Collection, too.
If you’re playing on a console and assuming the last few problems do get sorted out, this is technically the best version of the games available to you, although the Xbox versions are already pretty solid. Even in that context, it’s difficult not to feel disappointed by this lacklustre package. So much more could have been done, but I guess Aspyr decided the potential audience wasn’t big enough to warrant spending big money.
My recommendation would be to wait and pick up the Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection when it gets a price cut, especially if you’re happy enough to mess about in single-player because the multiplayer crowd will probably be long gone. Classic Collection, while you are on the council, I do not grant you the rank of Master.
